Sunday, November 30, 2008

Too late to catch the Antlers in the goal difference stakes? What a load of nonsense! Thanks to Kashima's last-gasp winner against Jubilo, the Goal Difference Stakes is now the only race that counts, but even then it may well end up counting for nothing. Still, let's try not to get ahead of ourselves.

On their final home outing of the season, Frontale put on another impressive display to dispatch Vissel Kobe with plenty of room to spare.

It was an ideal start to the game. After just 3 minutes, a bang-in-form Chong Tese latched onto a perfectly-timed through ball from Juninho. A quick glance over at the linesman meant his shot was delayed just long enough for the keeper to commit himself one way and for the big Korean to send the ball the other.

But, despite the one-sided scoreline, this proved to be far more of a contest than last week's drubbing of Gamba. Kobe's front men stretched the home defence for a good 60 minutes and were a little unlucky not to find an equaliser. Leandro could have bagged a couple in the first half, but he blazed the first wide and the second was too close to big Eiji Kawashima. Okubo too had the net at his mercy before the break, but a fabulous lunge from the unlikely Mori blocked his goal-bound effort.

Vissel continued to look the more dangerous side after the break, but the ever-solid Kawashima, and some wayward shooting, kept the score at 1-0. Then on 62 minutes the game changed. Taniguchi got on the end of a neat through-ball in the Kobe box. His blocked shot wriggled under the keeper allowing the Pyongyang predator, Chong Tese, to lash the ball in from close range.

Forced to find a quick reply, Kobe fell victim to a trademark Frontale counter just minutes later. The ball was cleared out of defence to our favourite North Korean, who headed the ball on and then turned on a sixpence to retrieve his own pass. His outpaced marker, Kunie Kitamoto, cynically dragged Tese to the floor, but advantage was played and Renatinho set up Juninho to find the net through the legs of the covering defender. If conceding a third wasn't bad enough for Kobe, the referee then went back and issued Kitamoto his second yellow for the foul.

So, three goals and one man down - things were looking pretty bleak for the visitors. But then injury was added to insult as Leandro crocked himself while trying to con the referee in the Frontale area. At first it looked a fairly decent shout for a penalty, but the replay suggests he took his own legs from under himself.

With their bite now gone as well as their bark, the match was over for Kobe. All that remained was for Frontale to continue to eat away at Kashima's superior goal difference. They huffed and puffed and finally Renatinho found his goalscoring form in the final minute. This time Juninho returned the favour, setting up the cheeky-faced scamp to remind us all that he knows a thing or two about finishing.

And so here we are, going into the final match of the season and still a faint glimmer of hope that a first J.League crown could be coming to Todoroki.

However, there is a caveat. If Kashima end up losing in Sapporo, Nagoya fail to win at Oita and Frontale haven't beaten Verdy by the required 3 goals, it would be the most sickening way to lose the title race. But if they throw too much caution to the wind, they could open the door for Verdy to nick a win. And if Verdy nick a win, it could mean no ACL spot.

It would be a huge shame not to take anything from the season, but then again the cautious approach has never been Frontale's strong point, so here's to a 3-0 win at Ajinomoto!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Frontale brushed aside a weary Gamba Osaka on Sunday to keep up the pressure on their title rivals. And while it's a bit late in the day to be catching Kashima in the goal difference stakes, you can't fault the boys for trying.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a fairly one-sided affair. However, for a 15-minute spell in the first half Gamba were in the driving seat and a more dynamic pairing up front than Lucas and Bando would probably have punished a stretched Frontale defence.

But just as the Gamba pressure was starting to cause some real concern, Frontale managed to get their collective foot in. The turning point was an incisive counter attack that exposed the visitors' defensive frailty. Chong Tese broke away on the left and cut out the defense with a surprisingly well-weighted early pass in to Renatinho. But, with the goal at the young Brazilian's mercy, the ball just wouldn't sit for him and the chance went begging.

Nevertheless, this seemed to put some lead in Frontale's pencil and they started putting together passages of the fast, flowing football that has been so absent of late.

The breakthrough came just before halftime - Chong Tese leaping like an enchanted salmon to convert a corner cross with an unstoppable header. It may be unfair to single anyone out in a game where all played well, but Chong Tese deserves a special mention. He's come in for criticism in these parts for his frequent spells of poor form, so it's only fair that he gets praise when it's due. And the Todoroki faithful were treated to a new and improved Chong Tese on Sunday, showing the kind of athleticism that would rightly make him the envy of most J.League teams.

The game was killed off early in the second half with 2 goals in the space of 5 minutes. Chong Tese again did well to keep alive a failed attack. The ball was worked to Taniguchi on the edge of the area and his strike took a slight deflection off the back of Satoshi Yamaguchi as it crept inside the post.

Juninho got in on the act too, poking a toe at Mori's cross after the winger had skipped his way past two men down the right.

The nail in the visitors' coffin was driven home by Gamba-trained Yusuke Igawa. A counter that swept the full length of the pitch was inexpertly dealt with by a wretched Gamba defence and Igawa, who had started the move from his own penalty area, was presented with the simplest of finishes.

Setting aside the fact that Gamba were definitely not at their best, Sunday's goal-fest was significant for several reasons. First and foremost, the win means the title hunt is still on - although with just 2 games to bridge a 3-point gap it's looking a bit of a tall order.

Secondly, the result sends out a message to Kashima and Nagoya that they've got a fight on their hands - something which would have been in question following the capitulation against Omiya the other week.

But most importantly, the performance, both at an individual level and as a team, will have restored some much-needed self-belief at a time when the season was threatening to go out with a whimper rather than a bang.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

On a cloudy Saturday afternoon in Nagasaki, Frontale were dumped out of the Emperor's Cup by runaway J2 leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Based on recent form away from Todoroki, this result doesn't come as a major shock. Perhaps the game was more a measure of the improvements the J2 outfit has made since last season's relegation. Still, the nature of the defeat is a little worrying. Despite missing key players (Kengo, Terada and Kawashima) on international duty, one would expect a side that still has pretensions of becoming J.League champions to offer a bit more than this lacklustre display.

As it was, Sanfrecce controlled the game from the outset, had much the better of the scoring chances and were worthy winners. Their first was the result of an impressive passage of play that started at the back and finished when stand-in keeper Uekusa could only parry a firm headed shot and Toshihiro Aoyama was first to react to the loose ball.

Having done little to worry Sanfrecce in the first half, Frontale at least showed some attacking intent in the second. Renatinho saw a deflected shot come back off the bar and there was the usual smorgasbord of mid-range shots that went sailing wide or over.

However, forced to push more players forward in an effort to get back on level terms, they were punished by a rather Frontale-esque counter in the 57th minute. Winning possesion deep in their own half, Sanfrecce launched a lightning-quick raid down the right flank. The resulting cross, played in behind the Frontale defence, ended up at the feet of Koji Morisaki (via a rather fortunate touch off the boot of a lunging Igawa) who made no mistake with his finish.

The only positive to take from this game is the slap in the face it will have dealt the players. If they failed to get the message with the Omiya result, then surely now they'll have woken up and realised that, with title rivals continuing to leave the door ajar, this is not the time for a slump. Takahata had better get his motivational cap on cos up next it's newly-crowned champions of Asia, Gamba Osaka.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Well, what to say? Before kick-off many people had this chalked up as an easy win for Frontale. But if the J.League teaches us anything, it's that we should assume nothing.

And it was a deserved victory for Omiya, who started the game perilously close to the J1 drop zone. From the first whistle they gave the visitors a lesson in passion and commitment, perhaps suggesting their desire to stay in J1 is stronger than Frontale's desire to win it.

This desire seemed to take Frontale by surprise in the opening stages. They were way off the pace for the first 15 minutes and were pressurised time and again into handing over possession. Indeed Omiya could (and perhaps should) have been 2-0 up before Frontale managed their first meaningful effort on goal. Lavric being the worst offender - 5 yards out with the goal at his mercy he completely missed the ball and watched it bounce harmlessly off his standing leg into the hands of Kawashima.

However, the big Slovenian, who gave Igawa and Terada a torrid time for the full 90 minutes, more than made up for that howler. Just as Frontale were starting to get a foothold in the game, a loose ball from Vitor Junior in midfield left his defence exposed. Omiya eventually worked the ball to Lavric who thundered a shot against the post from the corner of the penalty area and the grateful Fujimoto was on hand to direct the rebound into an empty net.

Conceding early goals is nothing new for Frontale and, with their minds now focussed on the task at hand, they began to find a bit more space in the attacking third of the field. But, although they knocked on the door a few times, the Omiya defence held firm, limiting the Frontale strikers to a few half chances. And it was only an absolute wonder-goal from Mori that finally got the visitors on level terms.

It was a measure of the desperate lengths Frontale were having to resort to that Mori even thought about going for goal when a corner clearance fell to him 35 yards out. But go for goal he did. And before the cynical "What are you doing?!" had cleared the lips of the onlooking Frontale faithful, the ball had dipped and swerved its way into the top right corner of the net. The entire audience was left open-mouthed. An old man in the Omiya crowd looked on stoically. One senses this wasn't the first time the footballing gods had foresaken him.

Understandably, Omiya were a little shellshocked by this and some lax defending almost allowed Renatinho to repeat the feat two minutes later. But his 30-yard lighning bolt flew inches over the bar. Still, Frontale would have been much the happier side going in at half time with the scores equal.

The second half was a more even contest in terms of possession and chances. Frontale looked the more likely to take the lead with Omiya perhaps a little worn out from their first half exertions. But the Omiya defence, outstandingly marshalled by Leandro, continued to frustrate the efforts of the Frontale strikeforce. Even the occasional embarrassing swan dive from Renatinho couldn't conjure up a goalscoring opportunity for the visitors.

After a while the home team seemed to find its second wind. With Lavric expertly bullying away up front, there was always an outlet for his defence to relieve the pressure. And the Frontale backline began to find itself repeatedly overstretched by a fast breaking Omiya midfield.

It was Lavric himself who restored their lead in the 77th minute with a wonder-strike of his own. A break down the right left Lavric alone against Igawa in the middle. When the ball reached him on the edge of the area he took one touch to flick it up and belted it on the full volley past a full-stretch Kawashima. A great goal - perhaps not as awe-inspiring as Mori's effort, but there was probably a little less in the way of luck about it.

To their credit, Frontale threw everything (including the kitchen sink) at Omiya to try to get back in the game, but it wasn't to be. No catalogue of missed chances, no dubious refereeing decisions, just a determined opponent who were prepared to battle for the 3 points.

So where does this leave us in the greater scheme of things? Taking nothing away from Omiya, it certainly wasn't a performance worthy of a title-winning side. And while sub-par performances away from home aren't exactly unheard of, with the finishing line in sight, this could well prove to be more than just a hiccup.

When it comes to the J.League you should assume nothing, but that Emperor's Cup is suddenly looking a lot more attractive!